Looking for Alaska

 








Looking for Alaska is a novel by John Green where shy, unpopular Miles, ¨Pudge¨, enrolls in a prepatory school for his junior year in Alabama.  That is where Miles meets his new friends.  Chip, who is called the Colonel, Takumi, and Alaska.  They take Miles under their wing and introduce him to the social order on the campus, smoking cigarettes, and drinking.  Miles gets hazed by who they all the Weekday Warriors, named because they only stay during the week at school, and his friends help him get them back.  Miles goes on a date with Sara, but is secretly in love with Alaska, who is in a relationship with a college student.  As time passes Miles continues his obsession for Alaska.  Over Thanksgiving break, he stays to try to be with her.  During this time, they finally pull an epic prank against the Weekday Warriors.  While they are hiding out they learn that Alaska´s mom had died of an aneurysm when she was eight.  Later, it is announced at school that Alaska died in a car accident.  Miles and Colonel are devastated and overwhelmed with guilt.  The question if she committed suicide.  They investigate her death and in doing so begin to lose Takumi and Lana as friends.  Then, they reconcile and work together to pull the epic prank in honor of Alaska.  As life goes on they try to come to terms with the loss of Alaska and give up on the mystery of her death.  

Looking for Alaska opens readers eyes to fun loving and rule breaking teen experiences, but also deals with how their world suddenly changes with the sudden loss of a friend.  It explores how people deal with loss and grieve in different ways.  Readers should be warned that their is strong language and a lot of sex language, such as groping, oral sex, and masturbation.  

Green, J. (2015). Looking for Alaska. Dutton Books.

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